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Power Rankings: Rangers score their way to the top

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Power Rankings: Rangers score their way to the top

The Rangers have been the most explosive team in the NHL this season by a wide margin. They've scored at least five goals nine times, six once and seven twice in 2016-17.

You really don’t need to be the second coming of Howie Meeker to ascertain that in today’s low-scoring NHL, five goals is pretty much a gimme when it comes to getting a game in the win column. The New York Rangers certainly realize that. Man, can these guys score goals. After a 7-2 drubbing of Vancouver Tuesday night, the Rangers lead the league with a mind-boggling 4.24 goals per game, which is almost a full goal over the next best team. They’ve scored at least five goals in nine of the 17 games this season and have won all nine, including a string in which they did it in six straight games.

In fact, the only two teams that have stood between the Rangers and a 13-game winning streak are Carolina and Vancouver, which seems a little odd. So it should come as no surprise that the Rangers make their season debut as the No. 1 team in thn.com’s weekly Power Rankings. Last week’s rankings are in parentheses:

THE CREAM OF THE CROP

1. New York Rangers (4)

2. New Jersey Devils (9)

3. Montreal Canadiens (2)

4. Chicago Blackhawks (1)

5. Boston Bruins (17)

6. Tampa Bay Lightning (13)

7. Pittsburgh Penguins (3)

8. Columbus Blue Jackets (6)

9. Ottawa Senators (19)

10. Florida Panthers (15)

Chris Kreider missed his second straight game under rather mysterious circumstances in the Canucks 7-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday night. Coach Alain Vigneault was evasive when asked whether it was a concussion…Riding a five-game winning streak, the Devils have three in tough California without Taylor Hall…The Canadiens 3-2 overtime loss to Florida Tuesday night marked the first time Carey Price lost a game at any level in 383 days, or back when Donald Trump was a harmless punchline…With the circus in town, the Hawks started a 13-day road trip with a rather putrid 4-0 loss to Winnipeg Tuesday night…Are the NHL’s two best goalies residing in the Atlantic Division? Tuukka Rask is looking like a Vezina contender again…Getting sent home from an extended road trip, as the injured Steven Stamkos was, is never a good thing…Spectacular, but odd, stats line for Sidney Crosby after just nine games: 10-3-13…Zach Werenski is making a great case for rookie of the year. He had 12 shot attempts in the Blue Jackets’ 2-1 overtime win over Washington Tuesday…Erik Karlsson’s next point will be the 400th of his career. He'll almost certainly do it in fewer than 500 games…Aaron Ekblad’s overtime goal against Montreal Tuesday night was just his third goal and point of the season.

THE MUSHY MIDDLE

11. Winnipeg Jets (20)

12. Washington Capitals (7)

13. Anaheim Ducks (11)

14. St. Louis Blues (8)

15. Toronto Maple Leafs (21)

16. San Jose Sharks (8)

17. Minnesota Wild (16)

18. Philadelphia Flyers (18)

19. Carolina Hurricanes (29)

20. Dallas Stars (25)

The Jets scored three third-period goals in their 4-0 win over Chicago Tuesday night and lead the league with 25 third-period goals…What’s this? In the Capitals 2-1 overtime loss to Columbus Tuesday night, Alex Ovechkin played just 14:12, the lowest total he’s played in a game in his career in which he wasn’t injured or ejected…One game after being pulled in a 5-0 loss to Nashville, John Gibson stopped 33 shots in Anaheim’s 4-1 win over Edmonton Tuesday night…The Blues should tick upward soon. They’re 6-2-1 at home and have seven of their next nine at the Scottrade Center…Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock on the play of rookie Mitch Marner: “I’ve never coached a kid that young, that good just because we’ve never been in that situation before.”…The Sharks have had 20 and 22 shots on goal in their past two games, the two lowest totals they’ve posted in that department this season…Losing 1-0 twice in a five game span is bad enough. But the Wild lost those games to Colorado and Calgary, two teams among the bottom 10 defensively in the NHL…Speaking of impressive rookies, Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov led the team with 22:43 in ice time in Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to Ottawa and had 11 shot attempts…In their 1-0 win over Minnesota Tuesday night, the Hurricanes gave up just two shots in the second period…Jason Spezza returned after missing five games with a lower-body injury and had no shots and no points in a 2-1 overtime loss to New Jersey Tuesday night.

VYING FOR THE PARTICIPATION BADGE

21. Edmonton Oilers

22. Nashville Predators

23. Detroit Red Wings

24. Colorado Avalanche

25. Los Angeles Kings

26. Calgary Flames

27. New York Islanders

28. Vancouver Canucks

29. Buffalo Sabres

30. Arizona Coyotes

As dangerous as Connor McDavid has been, it has to be a concern to the Oilers that he’s gone nine games without a goal…James Neal has scored in five consecutive games for the Predators, but Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each have only one goal so far…Stamkos wasn’t the only player injured in Tampa Bay’s win over Detroit Tuesday night. The Red Wings lost Darren Helm when he fell on his left shoulder. It looks as though he’ll be out a while…After being pulled in a game against St. Louis Nov. 6, Avs' goalie Semyon Varlamov has gone 2-1-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .958 save percentage in three starts…The Kings’ 4-1 loss to Colorado Tuesday night was the second straight game captain Anze Kopitar missed with an upper-body injury…What a shame. Johnny Gaudreau was just starting to heat up when he broke his finger after getting hacked and slashed all night by the Minnesota Wild. Good work, NHL…The Islanders were booed off the ice in their 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay Monday night. It was Jack Capuano’s sixth anniversary of being named coach of the Islanders and if this keeps up, he won’t see a seventh…Canucks’ GM Jim Benning on his team’s scoring woes this season: “Between Loui (Eriksson) and Sven (Baertschi) and some of the other players, I would have expected them to score more goals by now for sure.”…Sabres’ defensemen have a combined zero goals in 96 games this season…Goalie Mike Smith, who has been out since the second game of the season, and center Martin Hanzal, who has missed the past five games, are expected to be back tonight when Arizona visits Calgary.

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Connor McDavid didn’t mince his words when asked post-game about Brandon Manning. He called the Flyers defenseman “classless” and said Manning admitted to injuring him on purpose.

Connor McDavid has had no shortage of head-to-head battles with young stars in the game. There has been outings against Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews and more than handful per year against the Flames duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

But of all the players Connor McDavid could have had an on-ice feud with, it seems Brandon Manning is the first real rival for the Oilers phenom.

One might recall that it was during the early part of the 2015-16 campaign that Manning, a Philadelphia Flyers blueliner, got tangled up with McDavid as he looked to break in on goal, resulting in McDavid making hard contact with the boards behind the net. The impact with the boards saw McDavid break his collarbone and led to a 37-game absence for the then-rookie.

It was believed to be an unintentional act, something that simply happened as part of the game, and McDavid had even absolved Manning of any blame. That was until last night, more than 13 months after the Nov. 3, 2015 injury to McDavid..

During the Oilers’ hard-fought 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Flyers, McDavid was seen verbally jousting with Manning on a couple of occasions. The most obvious case came after a power play goal by McDavid, where he was seen skating towards Manning and shouting something in his direction.

It didn’t end there, though. Post-game, the Oilers captain went in on Manning, calling the hit that led to the broken collarbone an intentional act.

"I did all I could defending him last year in the media," McDavid said. "Everyone wanted to make a big deal saying he did it on purpose, and he wanted to say some comments today about what went on last year. I thought it was one of the [most] classless things I've ever seen on the ice. He said some things and our guys responded accordingly. I guess we can put the whole 'if he did it on purpose' thing to rest because what he said out there kind of confirmed that. Shows what kind of guy he is when he doesn’t step up and fight some of our guys.”

Shortly after McDavid commented on the incident, Manning fired back saying that he would “never intentionally hurt someone,” and added that’s not the way he plays.

"Anybody who knows me, I play a hard game,” Manning said, according to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman. “That's the reason I'm here, that's the way I'm in the NHL. I'm not here to score goals like some of those guys. I think I play an honest game, and anyone who knows me knows I play hard and stuff happens out there."

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Coyotes’ Cunningham alert, awake and joking with teammates, but remains in hospital

There’s still no word as to what exactly caused Coyotes AHL captain Craig Cunningham to collapse on ice, but the 26-year-old was in contact with teammates and cracking jokes earlier this week.

More than two weeks after collapsing on the ice ahead of an AHL game between the Coyotes and Jets AHL affiliates, news has come that Craig Cunningham is starting to get back to his old self.

According to Tucson’s KVOA, Cunningham spoke with two teammates, Brandon Burlon and Christian Fisher, via FaceTime earlier this week, and both said that things are starting to look up for the 26-year-old Cunningham.

Fisher added that it was nice to see Cunningham, the captain of the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, smiling again. But he wasn’t just smiling, he was also trying to have a good time with his teammates while hinting that he wants to get back on the ice.

“He was cracking jokes just as if he were here the next day," Fisher told KVOA. "It was pretty funny. He said he wanted us to come pick him up and take him to the rink. He was joking around. Stuff like that.”

The mystery still remains as to what caused Cunningham’s collapse, however. It came just moments before the game was set to start and resulted in medical staff in the building cutting away his equipment in order to attend to him. Cunningham ended up leaving the ice on a stretcher, was transported to hospital and he remained in critical but stable condition for much of the past two weeks.

Still, though, Burlon and Fisher said that there’s no “definitive answer” as to what caused Cunningham’s medical emergency. That’s more than all right with both players, too, so long as Cunningham’s health is starting to look up.

"What we do know is that he is doing well and we are moving forward here," Fisher told KVOA. "Hopefully, he will start the road to recovery now.”

Cunningham has suited up for 319 AHL games over the course of his career, netting 101 goals and 203 points, as well as scoring an additional three goals and eight points in 63 NHL games. He was drafted 97th overall by the Bruins in 2010, but was picked up by Arizona off waivers from Boston during the 2014-15 season.

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The Coyotes are reportedly looking to move out Anthony Duclair, and that was the case as early as this past summer. Duclair was reportedly part of a trade offer Arizona made for Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton.

That team, apparently, was the Arizona Coyotes. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, Coyotes GM John Chayka approached Flames GM Brad Treliving around the 2016 NHL Draft with an offer of young winger Anthony Duclair and a draft pick for the 23-year-old Hamilton. Dreger said the talks didn't go very far and doesn't know why this story recently resurfaced, though Burke obviously had enough.

While Burke's comments should put an end to the Hamilton trade chatter for a while, this story should further stoke conjecture over the 21-year-old Duclair's future with the Coyotes. He was thought to be a key part of their rebuilding program, with a respectable 20-goal, 44-point rookie performance last season.

Of late, however, there's talk the Coyotes could entertain offers for Duclair, who's managed only four points in 24 games this season. It was believed they wanted a good young player, preferably a center, as a return. Given their pursuit of Hamilton last summer, a promising blueliner could also fit the bill.

While the Coyotes are reportedly willing to listen to offers for winger Anthony Duclair, LeBrun claims the Senators aren't interested. That's understandable, as the Coyotes apparently seek a good young player who can help them right away. Dorion can't spare that type of player.

Another option could be Boston Bruins forward Ryan Spooner, who can skate at center or on the wing. The Bruins are apparently talking with several clubs. Spooner's $950K salary-cap hit is certainly enticing, plus he had a 49-point campaign in 2015-16. While Dorion's looking for someone to play on his checking lines, Ryan's injury might make him reconsider.

Bruins winger Jimmy Hayes could be another option. Garrioch reported Sunday the Bruins would like to move him, but Dorion could balk at his poor production (one goal in 23 games) and $2.3-million annual cap hit through 2017-18.

Garrioch also reports Edmonton Oilers left wing Benoit Pouliot could be available. He said the Oilers weren't shopping the 30-year-old veteran, but had spoken with several clubs to gauge their interest. He also notes the New York Islanders are trying to move winger Nikolai Kulemin.

A more affordable option could be Toronto Maple Leafs center Peter Holland. With a $1.3-million cap hit for this season, the 25-year-old is reportedly on the trade block. The Sens and Leafs have a recent trade history, so perhaps this could be a move that helps both sides.

Rumor Roundup appears regularly only on thehockeynews.com. Lyle Richardson has been an NHL commentator since 1998 on his website, spectorshockey.net, and is a contributing writer for Eishockey News and The Guardian (P.E.I.).For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

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John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.